HB 1027

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to custodial interrogations in cases
3	involving capital felonies; creating s. 901.241, F.S.;
4	providing definitions; describing circumstances in which
5	an oral, written, or sign-language statement made by a
6	capital interrogee during a custodial interrogation is
7	presumed inadmissible as evidence against such person;
8	describing circumstances in which the prosecution may
9	rebut such presumption; describing circumstances in which
10	law enforcement officers may have good cause not to
11	electronically record all or part of an interrogation;
12	providing for the admissibility of certain statements of a
13	capital interrogee when made in certain proceedings or
14	when obtained by federal officers or officers from other
15	states; providing for the preservation of electronic
16	recordings; providing for admissibility of certain
17	statements of a capital interrogee; providing a finding of
18	important state interest; providing an effective date.
19
20	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22	Section 1.  Section 901.241, Florida Statutes, is created
23	to read:
24	901.241  Custodial interrogations in cases involving
25	capital felonies.--
26	(1)  This section applies to custodial interrogations in
27	which the capital interrogee is suspected of involvement in a
28	capital felony.
29	(2)  As used in this section, the term:
30	(a)  "Capital interrogee" means a person who, at the time
31	of the interrogation and concerning any topic of the
32	interrogation, is:
33	1.  Charged with a capital felony; or
34	2.  Suspected by those conducting the interrogation or
35	investigating the capital felony of involvement in the capital
36	felony.
37	(b)  "Custodial interrogation" or "interrogation" means
38	questioning of a capital interrogee in circumstances in which a
39	reasonable person placed in the same position would believe that
40	his or her freedom of action was curtailed to a degree
41	associated with actual arrest.
42	(c)  "Electronic recording" means a true, complete, and
43	accurate reproduction of a custodial interrogation. An
44	electronic recording may be created by motion picture,
45	videotape, audiotape, or digital or other media.
46	(d)  "Involvement" means participation in a crime as a
47	principal or an accessory.
48	(e)  "Interrogation facility" means a law enforcement
49	facility, correctional facility, community correctional center,
50	detention facility, law enforcement vehicle, courthouse, or
51	other secure environment.
52	(3)  An oral, written, or sign-language statement which was
53	made by a capital interrogee during a custodial interrogation
54	shall be presumed to be inadmissible as evidence against such
55	person in a criminal proceeding unless:
56	(a)  The interrogation is reproduced in its entirety by
57	means of an electronic recording.
58	(b)  Prior to the statement, but during the electronic
59	recording, the capital interrogee is given all constitutionally
60	required warnings and the capital interrogee knowingly,
61	intelligently, and voluntarily waives any rights set out in the
62	warnings which would, absent such waiver, otherwise preclude the
63	admission of the statement.
64	(c)  The electronic recording device was capable of making
65	a true, complete, and accurate recording of the interrogation,
66	the operator of such device was competent, and the electronic
67	recording has not been altered.
68	(d)  All persons recorded in the recording who are material
69	to the custodial interrogation are identified on the electronic
70	recording.
71	(e)  During discovery pursuant to Rule 3.220, Florida Rules
72	of Criminal Procedure, but in no circumstances later than the
73	20th day before the date of the proceeding in which the
74	prosecution intends to offer the statement, the attorney
75	representing a capital interrogee is provided with true,
76	complete, and accurate copies of all electronic recordings of
77	the capital interrogee which are made pursuant to this section.
78	(4)(a)  In the absence of a true, complete, and accurate
79	electronic recording, the prosecution may rebut a presumption of
80	inadmissibility through clear and convincing evidence that:
81	1.  The statement was both voluntary and reliable.
82	2.  Law enforcement officers had good cause not to
83	electronically record all or part of the interrogation.
84	(b)  For purposes of paragraph (a), the term "good cause"
85	includes, but is not limited to:
86	1.  The interrogation occurred in a location other than an
87	interrogation facility under exigent circumstances where the
88	requisite recording equipment was not readily available, and
89	there was no reasonable opportunity to move the capital
90	interrogee to an interrogation facility or to another location
91	at which the requisite recording equipment was readily
92	available;
93	2.  The capital interrogee refused to have the
94	interrogation electronically recorded and such refusal was
95	electronically recorded;
96	3.  The failure to electronically record an entire
97	interrogation was the result of equipment failure and obtaining
98	replacement equipment was not feasible; or
99	4.  The statement of the capital interrogee was obtained in
100	the course of electronic eavesdropping that was being conducted
101	pursuant to a properly obtained and issued warrant or that
102	required no warrant and was otherwise legally conducted.
103	(5)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
104	written, oral, or sign-language statement of the capital
105	interrogee which was made as a result of a custodial
106	interrogation is admissible in a criminal proceeding against the
107	capital interrogee in this state if:
108	(a)  The statement was obtained in another state by
109	investigative personnel of such state, acting independently of
110	law enforcement personnel of this state, in compliance with the
111	laws of such state; or
112	(b)  The statement was obtained by a federal officer in
113	this state or another state during a lawful federal
114	investigation and was obtained in compliance with the laws of
115	the United States.
116	(6)  Every electronic recording of a custodial
117	interrogation made pursuant to this section must be preserved
118	until the capital interrogee's conviction for any offense
119	relating to the interrogation is final and all direct appeals
120	and collateral challenges are exhausted, the prosecution of such
121	offenses is barred by law, or the state irrevocably waives in
122	writing any future prosecution of the capital interrogee for any
123	offense relating to the interrogation.
124	(7)  This section does not preclude the admission into
125	evidence of a statement made by the capital interrogee:
126	(a)  At his or her trial or other hearing held in open
127	court;
128	(b)  Before a grand jury;
129	(c)  Which is the res gestae of the arrest or the offense;
130	or
131	(d)  Which does not arise from a custodial interrogation,
132	as defined in this section.
133	Section 2.  The Legislature finds that the reputations of
134	countless hard-working law enforcement officers are needlessly
135	attacked by criminal suspects who falsely claim the officers
136	have violated the suspects' constitutional rights, that limited
137	trial court resources are squandered in hearings on motions
138	seeking to suppress statements made by criminal suspects who are
139	given the opportunity to make such claims because no recordings
140	of their interrogations exist, and, further, that judicial
141	resources are squandered when criminal suspects, after having
142	been convicted of their crimes, file frivolous and unnecessary
143	appeals. This process costs the taxpayers of this state untold
144	dollars each year, dollars that could be better spent enhancing
145	the administration of the criminal justice system. Low-cost
146	technology is now available in every jurisdiction to record each
147	custodial interrogation of a criminal suspect, eliminating this
148	gross waste of resources and enhancing the reliability and
149	reputation of law enforcement officers. Therefore, the
150	Legislature determines and declares that this act fulfills an
151	important state interest.
152	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.